Hammer's War 1: Forging the Hammer (28 page)

He stood up straight and looked
deeply into her soft green eyes, “I didn’t start my career as an officer.  In fact, I was a seventeen year old, on the run from the law, when I joined the Star Guard.  You see, my father was a drunk who liked to beat my mother and me.  One night he beat her to death.  When I came home and found her body and my father passed out drunk in his chair, well I lost it.  I taped him to his chair and set the house on fire,” he paused and looked off into the distance as he recalled the memory.  “After the fire, I was wanted for double homicide, so I changed my name and ran as far as I could.  When I ran out of options I joined up as a Marine.”

“I see,” Eve
said, thinking she understood.

He held up his hand, “No you don’t, not yet at least.  You see I was just a young marine when we were called on to go
to a shit hole of a planet to get some scumbag pirate.  The mission didn’t go as planned.  Things went bad when two of our retrieval shuttles got shot down, but they really got bad when the Dreenoi showed up.”

“Ah yes
, the first time that the Guard had ever gone up against the Dreenoi in combat.  I remember reading about it,” she said.

“
It was the first time any humans had ever seen them.  We gave them a good spanking, but in the end we had to pull out and they over ran the planet.  Even though we fought with everything we had we still lost a lot of good people that day.”  Daniel’s eyes began to tear up as he relived the events of the day.

“Eighteen wasn’t it?” she asked softly.

“Eighteen Marines were killed yes, but not one of the one hundred sent in got out without being wounded, myself included.  I was hit pretty badly, took a full blast of plasma to the left side of my chest and arm.  My armor had been melted to me and the field medic did all he could for me, but I and many others didn’t think I was going to make it.”  He paused again.  “But I did make it back to the ship.  The Epsilon was her name, good ship, but I digress.  The ship’s chief medical officer at the time not only saved my life, but because of some ground breaking medical procedures he had pioneered, he was able to restore me to full health without leaving any scaring.”

“Amazing,” Eve said.

“Yeah it was, and I promised that doctor I would someday repay him for all that he had done for me. Well, I never did get the chance to repay him until now,” Daniel said with a smile.

“Doctor Hammer?” she asked.

“Yep, he was the doctor on the ship who saved me.  At the time he was still a young doctor, eager to do all he could for the betterment of mankind.”  He said.

“Wow
, I never knew.  He never let me have access to his personal records.  Sure I could have broken the encryption in a nanosecond, but I respected him, so I never did,” Eve said.

“Y
ou can image how I felt when I found out he had passed, and I never would have the chance to repay him.”  She nodded yes.  “But when I first laid eyes on his son I thought a debt is a debt, and a promise is a promise. I knew right then and there that I would let this one go. Now I can rest easy knowing the debt has been repaid.”

She pulled him close and kissed him gently, “I
’m thankful that you did.”

He returned her kiss, “Me too.”

Thad and the twins watched Eve say her goodbyes to Wesson.  Freya said, “Oh look at that. I think she has a boyfriend.”  They all nodded in agreement.  Once Captain Wesson was back on his ship, Eve rejoined them.

No one spoke
as they grabbed up their gear and headed out to find some food first, then a ship going to Nova Texas.  Sky’s End City was larger than Nome, but not by much.  It had a few more places to eat and by a big stroke of luck it had a shipyard.  As they walked down the street looking for a place to eat, they passed a strangely familiar looking fuel tank bar.  Thad laughed and pointed to the building, “Huh, another Bob’s, must have been a chain at one point.”

“Yeah, but I bet their food is nowhere near the quality of Carl’s,” Freya said.  They all got a good laugh out of that.  After passing on Bob’s they settled
on an outdoor café to get some food and make plans.  

Sitting around a table, they ordered food.  Thad took charge as if they were having a business meeting, “Well ladies
, we can’t try booking passage again.  Any kind of commercial transport is bound to be full of problems.”

Fiona took a sip of her wine, “So what do we do then?”

“We buy a ship and fly to Nova Texas on our own.  I would have done this in the beginning, but there were no ships to buy on Nome.  Sky’s End City on the other hand, has a shipyard.  We should be able to find something.”

Sitting across
the courtyard was Rankin Riffrost, a black man with deep dark skin and eyes darker still.  Tall and well built, with not an ounce of fat on him, he was dressed in old style blue jeans, soft brown leather boots, and a dark purple shirt. Over his shirt he wore a black leather vest and with a long black leather coat hiding many secrets.  His baldhead was covered by a wide brimmed matching black hat with ornate sliver decorations.  Mr. Riffrost was not your everyday man-on-the-street sitting in a café, but a bounty hunter.  He liked to sit in places like this and watch for wanted people to come through, and his efforts were paying off today.  He was looking over the newest bounties posted on the net, when low-and-behold; he spotted the biggest fish of all.

Everyone was enjoying the meal when
Eve spoke, “I found a used shipyard not far from here, and it is the only one that sells working ships.  There are a couple scrap yards around that have hulls and other parts.”

Thad laid down his fo
rk, “What’s the name of the yard?”

“Story Johnston’s Starship Emporium,” Eve replied.

“Alright, I will check out the shipyard and see what I can find.  You three should go have some fun, do some shopping, I’m sure after a few months of living in the trees you will want some new clothing,” Thad said, knowing they had more clothing stored in the DDSD then they could wear in a lifetime, but he wanted them to relax and have some fun.  He wanted them to feel normal, even if it was just for a few hours.

Thad went to find transport to Story Johnston’s Starship Emporium while the girls went to the fashion district
, at least what passed for one.  The fashion district consisted of four clothing stores of which one was a man’s store and one solely dedicated to shoes. 

“Can you believe this place
, only one shoe store?”  Fiona said.

“I know my dear sister
, it’s barbaric, but it least it has one. Nome had nothing,” Freya said as she threw her arm around her sister’s shoulders.

“Good point,” Fiona said with a laugh.  Riffrost was not far behind them
. He had chosen to follow the girls.  He thought they would make good leverage if Thad became a problem when it was time to grab him.

Thad caught a hover taxi, and after
a short and wild ride, he found himself face to face with Story Johnston himself.  A fat man with beady eyes, large toothy smile, and shaggy sandy blond hair, Story held out his meaty hand for Thad to shake, “Welcome friend, I’m Story Johnston and if you are looking for a small star ship that can jump between planets as well as land on them, then you’ve come to the right place.  No one has better ships at better prices than me.”

Thad shook his hand, “Smith, Mr. Smith.”

“Well Mr. Smith what can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for a small fast ship, but one that is nice on the inside.  I’m traveling with some ladies and they really don’t want to be on a piece of junk
, if you know what I mean,” Thad said.

Story let out a laugh, “I know just the ship
, come this way.”  He followed Story to small hover cart.  They both piled in, Story took the wheel, and the cart listed to left under Story’s considerable bulk.  He looked at Thad, with his toothy smile, and off they went at a break-neck pace.

The girls were having fun for the first time in a long
while.  Being raised mostly in space, they never got the chance to shop like normal planet dwellers.  This was new and exciting.  “Freya, what do you think of this?”  Fiona asked as she stepped out of the dressing room modeling a little black dress she had picked out.

“It’s cute, but I think it needs to show a little more cleavage, don’t you?”  Freya replied.

“It wouldn’t hurt, I guess,” Fiona went back into the dressing room to change.  There was a man standing there waiting for her.  He held a gun on her. With his finger on his lip, he motioned for her to stay quiet.  

Riffrost whispered to her, “Stay quiet and I
won’t hurt you.  Do you understand?”  She nodded yes.  “Good, now don’t you worry, I’m not some freaky dude here to get his rocks off.  I’m a bounty hunter and my dear, you and your friends are worth a lot of money to me.  Now we can do this the easy way or if you like, the hard way.”

Fiona was pissed, not that this bounty hunter was holding a gun on her.  It was because she let him get the drop on
her, “I would have preferred you be a freak I think, but it’s all the same to you I’ll go easy, not because you have a gun on me, but because I like this dress and I’m in no mood to damage it.”

He flipped a switch on the pistol he was holding, “Good
, because you’re worth more alive.”  He pulled the trigger.  A bright blue light lit up the small changing room, the stun beam hit Fiona straight on.  She shook for a second before collapsing to the floor unconscious.

The sound of the stunner was somewhat muffled by the walls
and door of the changing room, but it was loud enough to get Freya’s attention.  “Fiona, you okay in there?”

There was no answer,
then the door flung open and another bright blue flash lashed out at Freya. She also fell to the floor stunned.  Riffrost turned the gun on Eve and fired again.  Eve seeing what was going on chose to play along for now.  The stun beam hit her in the chest and it kind of tickled, but had no effect, so she faked being stunned and landed on the floor next to Freya. 

Riffrost loaded Freya and Fiona into a cart but when he lifted Eve she was much heavier than she looked, “Damn girl
, what the Hell have you been eating? You weigh a ton!”  After much grunting, and groaning he loaded her in the cart with the others and made his escape via the back door down the alley behind the shop.

Thad was looking at a class three pleasure Yacht, “She is a beauty, fast, small and nothing can compare with the amenities inside,” Story said.  “Would you like have a peep inside?”

Something didn’t feel right to him, he wasn’
t sure what, but something was bothering him.  “Sure let’s see what she’s got,” Thad said, following him through the hatch.

Story led
him around the ship. It was top of the line, and no doubt, he wanted a top of the line price too.  After the tour, they walked down the ramp only to be greeted by a mess of police with guns drawn.  Thad said, out loud, “That’s not good.”

Story said over his shoulder, “Sorry son
, as much as I would like to make a sale today, the reward on you is double what this is worth.”

Thad said,
“No worries, you’re doing what you think is right, but you should have taken the sale.”

Stor
y’s eyes got a little bigger, “Why is that?”

“Because the people who want me will never pay you
. In fact, you will probably be dead before I leave this planet,” Thad said as he walked past him, toward the police.

Story stood there
, his jaw open, unable to speak.

A large police officer yelled at
him, “Come here, with your hands were I can see them, or I will not hesitate filling you full of holes!”  Thad looked at the situation and chose to go quietly.

The twins awoke to find themselves lying on bunk beds in a small room, and from the look of it, they were on a space ship of some kind. Freya on the bottom bed sat up first holding her head, “I feel like my head is about to explode.  What the Hell happened?”

Eve was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall, “Welcome back to the land of
the living. While you were out, I took the time to get to know the ship’s AI, a bit of an ass if you ask me.  I mean who uses male AI’s anyway!  They tend to be so arrogant.”

Fiona
, still lying on the top bunk rolled over and said, “And that differs from real men how?”  They all laughed.

“Oh
, don’t make me laugh it hurts,” Freya said, clasping her head.

Eve continued, “As I was saying, I got to know the ship
’s AI, his name is Spike.  Ghastly name if you ask me, anyway the man who stunned you all and brought us onboard this ship is a bounty hunter named Rankin Riffrost.  He is a fairly well known bounty hunter and it looks like he’s trying to cash in on the bounty on our heads.”

“Okay, so when he comes back in here we jump him and take him out,” Freya suggested.

“I have a better idea, leave it all to me,” Eve said with an evil smile.

Thad was booked in
to the Sky’s End City jail.  The hours passed slowly for Thad, his thoughts drifted to the twins, wondering what they were up and hoping they were alright.  Finally a guard walked past Thad’s cell, “Hey don’t I get a phone call or something!”